Donald Trump’s commerce secretary nominee, Howard Lutnick. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: Donald Trump’s commerce secretary nominee, Howard Lutnick, is taking a key step back from running his financial group, handing off leadership of one of his blank-cheque companies to his 26-year-old son.
Brandon Lutnick, a trader at his father’s Cantor Fitzgerald LP, has been listed as chief executive at its most recently created special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Cantor Equity Partners I Inc, according to a filing Wednesday.
The entity, which hasn’t yet made its market debut, has said it aims to raise US$200mil to seek a merger with a private company.
Eyes have been on Brandon since his father, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, was tapped to run the Commerce Department.
A graduate of Stanford University, Brandon has already helped carry out his father’s business agenda, including a spell working in Switzerland for a large client, cryptocurrency firm Tether Holdings Ltd.
Howard Lutnick, who holds a majority stake in Cantor Fitzgerald, has said he will step down from three businesses it controls – Cantor, BGC Group Inc and Newmark Group Inc – as well as divest interests in his firms to comply with government ethics rules.
He hasn’t yet named a successor to lead Cantor or the parent company. — Bloomberg
